Advoken's Blog

Following is a from a homily given by Ken Germanson in a Zoom service before the nondenominational congregation, the Community of the Living Spirit of Waukesha WI, on Oct. 25, 2020

Like so many who had a Catholic upbringing, I paid little attention to the Bible.  I found myself guided mainly by the gospels from the New Testament that we heard on Sundays.  Even now, I must admit I still know little about the Bible.  Yet, I have learned this much:  If there’s one universal theme running through the Christian Bible . . . and indeed most of the world’s religions . . . it can perhaps be summed up by the good old Golden Rule that I recall hearing my mom quote to us kids in our childhood:  “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

The Golden Rule is certainly reflected in today’s last reading from I John 3:16-18 . . . a reading that I think best fits the theme for today.

Now at election time, perhaps we ought to put into action the command as stated in the Golden Rule and in I John 3:16-18.  The words call for action.

We often think that the Golden Rule applies only when it comes to our personal relationships . . . such as how generous we are with our friends . . . how unselfish we are with our neighbors . . . and how understanding we are with some members of our families who may not always be the easiest to get along with.

We all know people who have been kind and generous to immediate friends and family but who also are complaining that they pay too much in taxes . . . that unemployment insurance supports the lazy . . . that people of color are too demanding.  

No, we’ve got to take the principle of the Golden Rule and of I John 3:16-18 and give it a more universal meaning . . . to the decisions we make when we vote . . . and to what actions we take within the community.

The last sentence of John reads: “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”  And, I emphasize the word “action.”

Let us have more  than empathy … we need true compassion, for when we feel compassion we will also feel the need to alleviate the suffering we see and to right the wrongs of society.  According to Merriam-Webster, there is a difference between empathy and compassion; empathy is merely a feeling we might have for another person’s suffering while compassion is, in addition, a call for action.

Our nation is currently facing a combination of crises that in the long run can only be solved by community actions that are done in an atmosphere of compassion.   

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only caused undue suffering and the deaths of some 225,000 Americans, but it has brought economic chaos to millions . . . many of whom are on longterm or even permanent unemployment or under-employment . . . others who are facing eventual eviction . . .     Strangely it has also benefited many of our wealthiest citizens.  We have seen the stock market rise at the same time workers are either without jobs or working such short hours they can’t pay the rent or put food on the table.   

Most economists, as far as I can tell, regardless of their political bent, foresee a future in which the rich will get richer and the middle class and poor will get poorer.  As we look ahead for economic recovery . . . once we overcome the current pandemic . . . it appears these trends will continue.  Usually economists describe economic trends to be in a “V” curve . . . with the economy dropping for everyone and then recovering for everyone.  Not this time, it’s bound to be more like a “K”, with the economic fortunes of the rich increasing while the middle class and poor incomes will go down.  Thus, a “K”.

There’s no doubt that as we eventually emerge from the grips of this pandemic, our society – and our economy – will be much different.  We will have greater challenges as many businesses will be slow to recover . . . production of goods will be decreased . . . many jobs will never return.

In short, we may have less resources than before . . . and unless we change courses on our distribution of income . . . our future may be a devastating disaster for far too many men, women and children.  

Historian David J. Staley of Ohio State University foresees that after the pandemic we will continue practising some of our habits of isolation, such as using Zoom rather than holding in-person meetings, all of which may foster greater individualism.  This growing trend toward individualism and isolation may block whatever progress we have made in reducing racial stereotypes and in fighting systemic racism.  How can we learn about people who are not like us, unless we interact with them?  

On the other hand, he also says the economic fortunes of our nation’s essential workers — in most cases the most poorly paid — could go one of three ways, either toward greater inequity of between the rich and the poor, greater unemployment because of the use of more automation, or, more hopefully, with a trend toward more equal treatment of workers, largely as they see the need for joining together in collaboration to demand justice, such as through greater unionization.

Which of those will happen probably depends greatly upon what happens in this election. 

In nine days from now, we will end a campaign season that is unlike any this nation has ever endured.  The results of this election will affect us – the citizens of the United States, and, indeed, the world – in either terribly adverse ways, or in ways that will bring more hope for a future that benefits all, the rich, the poor and all those in-between.

The decisions we make in these remaining two weeks call for compassion on the part of all of us.

Even if the election ends with the election of a new President, more positive and progressive changes in our Congress and among our state leaders, there will continue to be tremendous challenges facing our communities, our states, our nation and the world.

This is a call for our leaders to act with compassion:  that way, all of us with benefit. And, beyond this, it is a call for all of us to guide ourselves with compassion and do whatever is within our abilities to act in community with others by voting, urging others to vote and to make our decisions based on the principles of the Golden Rule and I John 3:16-18.

I’d like to end this homily on a hopeful note by turning to the eminent African-American theologian and civil rights leader, the late Howard Thurman (1899-1981), the author of Jesus and the Disinherited.

“Listen to the long stillness:  

New life is stirring

New dreams are on the wing

New hopes are being readied:

Humankind is fashioning a new heart

Humankind is forging a new mind

God is at work.

This is the season of promise.”

And if you think, you’re too old to do anything, consider this story that Thurman told and was related in a recent interview:

“When Thurman was a small boy, he saw an elder, man who must have been in his eighties, who was planting pecan trees.  And young Thurman raised a question. He said, ‘Sir, you’re not gonna be around. You will not live long enough to taste the fruit from these trees.’ And the old man paused and said, ‘Son, all my life I’ve been eating from trees I did not plant. It’s my job to plant for somebody else.’” And my father said, “Just plant. There will be trees that you will never see grow, that someone else will eat from. And it’s their responsibility to plant for somebody else. And so we don’t have all that we should have, we’ve not reached the goals that we are supposed to reach, but we have started the race, and you’ve got the baton, son.  Pass it on.”

Thus, there is much we can do as we grow older.  Again, from quotes by Howard Thurman:  “The hard thing when you get old is to keep your horizons open. The first part of your life everything is in front of you, all your potential and promise. But over the years, you make decisions; you carve yourself into a given shape. Then the challenge is to keep discovering the green growing edge.

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